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Posted on 09/29/2002 10:38:29 AM PDT by kattracks
PHILADELPHIA, Sep 29, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- In their heyday, former Rep. Ed Mezvinsky and his wife were a power couple in Democratic Party circles and on suburban Philadelphia's swanky Main Line.
The "Friends of Bill" had both served in Congress, and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, a magnetic former TV reporter, was gearing up for a 2000 Senate bid. Their mansion in Narbeth saw a steady stream of political advisers, friends and their 11 children, some adopted from overseas.
Today, the couple's careers, mansion, money and status are all but gone.
Edward Mezvinsky, 65, admitted in court Friday that he had bilked investors who had handed over more than $10 million, including some of those same friends, his law clients and even his late mother-in-law.
"I'm trying to understand what happened," Mezvinsky said Saturday from his rented house in Merion, as he watched his native Iowa edge Penn State in overtime. "Something broke."
Margolies-Mezvinsky, 60, has kept a low profile since the couple's separate bankruptcy filings in 2000 and her husband's March 2001 indictment. She was noticeably absent Friday when he pleaded guilty to 31 of 69 fraud-related counts.
Margolies-Mezvinsky wasn't charged and has said she left the family finances to her husband. She wasn't home and couldn't be reached for comment, her husband said Saturday.
"This has not broken Marjorie, nor do I believe it's broken Ed," said her lawyer, Zachary L. Grayson. "They're lovely people who have lived their lives as much for others as for themselves."
Mezvinsky, the heir to a small supermarket chain fortune, was a star athlete in Ames, Iowa, who went on to earn a law degrees in California. By age 36, he was representing his home state in Washington, where he met Margolies, then a reporter.
Each had a moment in the spotlight in Congress: His when he served on the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach President Nixon; hers when she cast the deciding vote for Bill Clinton's 1993 tax hike.
That 1993 vote endeared her to the Clintons, who would invite the couple to their Renaissance Weekends in Hilton Head, S.C., but it also cost Margolies-Mezvinsky her seat in largely Republican Montgomery County.
She remained in politics, heading the U.S. delegation to the Beijing Women's Conference and unsuccessfully running for lieutenant governor.
Mezvinsky, after serving in Congress from 1973 to 1977, became an ambassador to a United Nations commission and state Democratic Party chairman. He also spent millions on unsuccessful races for the U.S. Senate in 1980 and attorney general in 1988.
His troubles deepened in the 1990s, when Mezvinsky left politics and turned to international business deals. He lost millions to African con artists pitching pyramid-type schemes.
"Without any meaningful income, he was perpetually in debt throughout the 1990s," the plea agreement states.
While he first sought ever-larger bank loans, that pipeline soon shut down, and by 1995 he was turning to individual investors.
Moving money at a frenetic pace, he deposited $13.28 million in his numerous accounts from 1995 to early 2000, most of it from investors and clients, according to investigators, who reviewed more than 8,000 transactions.
Mezvinsky would tell some potential investors he needed up-front money to pursue a lucrative oil deal in Nigeria or other projects, and say he could double their money, according to the plea agreement.
"He boasted to many, for example, of a close personal friendship with President and Mrs. Clinton, and of his son's friendship with Chelsea Clinton at Stanford University," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer wrote in the 133-page agreement.
During the same period, Mezvinsky spent $13.3 million, with 44 percent of the money going to creditors, 20 percent to Africans and 17 percent for cash withdrawals, they said.
While Mezvinsky blamed his woes in part on the costly campaigns and tuition bills - the University of Pennsylvania, where Margolies-Mezvinsky now teaches, once sued over a child's tuition - prosecutors say those were small potatoes.
From 1995 to 1999, Mezvinsky spent about $77,000 on tuition, but withdrew at least $2.25 million in cash, they say.
Mezvinsky's plea comes after U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell rejected defense claims that blamed his actions on a bipolar disorder and the anti-malaria drug Lariam, which he took on trips to Africa.
Prosecutors plan to ask for nine to 11 years in prison at his sentencing Jan. 9. They also will seek restitution, but acknowledge there's no money to be found.
"I'm trying to move on with my life," Mezvinsky told The Associated Press. "I'm trying to do what's right, not only respecting the system, but what's right for my family."
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On the Net:
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania:
By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
He admitted to bilking people out of millions and they're described as lovely people,......... Yea, I guess compared to the Clintons they are....
When are these dummycrats going to figure it out?
The Clintons don't have "friends" they have "disposable acquaintances"
After Marge was MARCHED DOWN THE AISLE WITH SENIOR DEMOCRATS ON EACH ARM to make the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in the history of the planet, my sister found out what Democrats are.
Like the snake that bites after swearing that it wouldn't bite, the excuse is, THAT'S WHAT THEY DO!!!
My sister's political education is far from complete, but it's a durn sight further on then it was on that rainy day in '92.
If this is true, then he is just too stupid to have any money.
It would almost seem that the golden age for the Democrats are coming to an end. I have a theory.
I never could understand how Bill Clinton managed to get away with so much until I decided the only thing that made sense was that he sold his soul to the devil.
Problem is, his soul by itself was not worth very much, and so he had to kick in a little extra. He offered Hilliary's but I figure Satin already had hers locked up, no, he needed more.
Then it dawns on Clinton, I will give you the entire Democratic Party. Make me President, allow me to serve two full terms, and the every Democrat that befriends me, or supports me or defends me will be yours.
And so the deal was made, Clinton served two full terms, and nothing seemed to touch him. However, now it is collection time.
And so now the Democrats that turned to the dark side find that even when they know what is right, and in their best interest, they still do the wrong thing (such as Democratic Senators in Iraq as we speak).
Maybe we need a list like the dead friends of Clinton, listing all those that supported Clinton but now find no matter what they do, it turns out wrong.
Top on that list would be Gore. I believe they had the election fixed in Florida (Gore may not have known about it that is why he first conceded and then took it back.) The fix was in, but for some reason it did not work. The "magic" has left the building.
Anyway, that is what I think has happened.
After Marge was MARCHED DOWN THE AISLE WITH SENIOR DEMOCRATS ON EACH ARM to make the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in the history of the planet, my sister found out what Democrats are."
The article doesn't get into the real story at all. Your sister's account is totally accurate in describing her weakness, her deception. I have no sympathy....about time one of these democrat weasels get payback.
And she explained afterward that she "did it for the CHIL-DRUNN!" Remember that?
Excuse me while I go and barf at the memory.
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